Expiration Date (Books 1 and 2)

52 The Wild Cards

Erik~~

At one o'clock we emerge.

The rebels follow me up into the house, Vienna remaining behind.

We'll all be in constant contact with L, but going into this, she already has somewhat of an idea of what lights will need to have the motion sensors shut off.

At the stairs, we break off from each other, Pascal and I going up to the second floor.

We don't have control of the bedroom lights. They aren't on motion sensors, but regular light switches instead, albeit a bit shinier and more gilded than your average light switch.

Light seeps out of the door beside Jonas's room. Bently's. I can hear my cousin's voice and another, but their words are too muffled to make out.

Pascal crouches in front of Jonas's door, pulling out his lock picking tools comprised of two metal sticks: a torque wrench and a pick. While strength was an important test when choosing who would come on the mission, we needed three lock pickers.

By the light of my phone, Pascal jiggles his tools in the lock. I know what he's doing takes precision and skill and that it's a lot more than wiggling some sticks, but in this limited light, that's all it looks like.

There's a click as the lock catches. Pascal waits a moment before easing open the door.

I can hear Jonas's breathing. It's deep, broaching on a soft snore.

Mask in hand, I approach his bed. He's asleep on his back.

Behind me, Pascal shuts the door.

I know for a fact, all my cousins in the order sleep with a weapon somewhere on their bed.

If I fail here, I let Molly down.

Finger on the release button for a vial attached to the mask, I hold the gasmask up, my heart pounding. I can barely see him in the dark. He's just a form, a body.

If I don't hurry, my team will be waiting and our chances of getting caught increase.

Trying not to wake him, I gently plan the front of the mask on his face and at the same time press the button.

Jonas stirs.

Gas hisses as it releases into the mask, and once his body settles, I lean his head forward to securely attach the mask.

Pascal helps to lift Jonas and to carry him to the door. He keeps a hold on him as I open it.

Between the two of us, Jonas isn't that heavy, and we move him into the hall, the gas hissing as it slowly releases the vial's contents. I shut the door right as the voices in Bently's room escalate.

His door opens before slamming shut, but in that brief flash of light, I saw who stepped out.

His mother.

An Amoris

One I refer to as aunt even if she's technically not like so many of my cousins' parents that also get the titles of aunt and uncle.

Before she can make a sound, I wrap my arms around her neck and put her in a choke hold. She claws at my arms and gasps, but Pascal hands me his mask. I press the button on the vial right before I slam the mask over her face.

Four seconds after the gas starts to hiss, she slumps in my arms.

I'm kidnapping my cousin and aunt.

This would be a lot easier if I could have only taken a picture of his damn Mark, but we need him, all of him, as proof that the Mark is his if we want to sell his Date.

Since I'm stronger than Pascal, we switch Society members, and I throw Jonas over my shoulder as quietly as I can manage, mindful of Bently still awake on the other side of his door.

Going down the stairs in the dark with a full-grown man slung over my shoulder is not easy. That's all I need to say.

There's a lot of bitten back curse words.

A few almost slips.

But we make it to the first floor and then head down into the garage.

Jonas's mask, positioned near my ear, stops hissing, the vial used up.

We have twenty minutes until he begins to wake. If the others are already in the van, it should be just enough time to transfer him to L's van.

As we approach the Society's van, Anya opens one of the doors, and they and Afreen help us set my aunt and Jonas into one of the three back rows.

The other pairing isn't back yet.

The female Amoris Anya and Afreen retrieved is tucked into one of the middle rows. Afreen settles in next to her.

The sight of Jonas unconscious and in a gasmask unsettles me, and I tell Vienna to move from the front seat and come back here. I'd prefer to drive. As far as I know, I'm the only one who has car chase credentials.

As Vienna climbs into the back, the other team arrives carrying their Amoris. I start the van as Anya helps them inside. Before the door is shut, I'm backing out of the spot, keeping only the parking lights on as I maneuver through the garage.

It's tempting to speed out of here, but that would create too much noise and will draw attention. But it's also not as if people don't leave and come to the Society at all hours.

I drive up the ramp that leads out of the garage and then climb the hill to the gate.

It's programmed to open for any registered Society vehicle that's leaving, and it's not any different now. I hold my breath as the gate opens, and I drive through it. I would have broken it down if it hadn't opened, but I didn't want the attention that would have brought.

I could almost swear the guard in the safehouse looks up as we drive past, but I don't risk turning my head.

As I put distance between us and the Estate, it hits me that we're actually pulling this off. I didn't realize how much I needed this to work for my own mental wellbeing. I let all the rebels down in the last attack. If this one were to fail, they'd never listen to me again.

I turn down the driveway where L waits. We had picked this location because there's another driveway out of these woods that exits onto a different road.

The back doors of L's van are already open, and we transfer the three Amoris and Jonas into the back. Jonas and the other woman Amorian are stirring in their sleep.

By the time they're all loaded in, Afreen has locked my aunt into the shackles. He hops out, leaving the rest to Vienna. After checking to make sure they can't be opened from the inside, Anya shuts the doors. The two rebels who retrieved the male Amoris, return to the Society's van as the rest of us pile into the rebel's van. L and I are in the front row, Afreen, Anya, and Pascal in the back. The wall their row is against has a small rectangular window at the top that lets us see into the back. Vienna is trapped back there. What will Jonas think when he comes to and sees her?

How much more would she be damaged in the Society's eyes if they knew she was here helping us? Enough that there will forever be no chance the Society could or would forgive her? That is what Thomas wanted—to ensure she had no option but the rebellions.

Anya making sure those back doors couldn't be opened from the inside, didn't only have to do with our prisoners, but Vienna as well. We have to be sure she won't be able to release them.

My family probably always thought of me as a bit of a wild card.

But Vienna was the real one. Because since the night of Kerrie-uh, it's become increasingly clear she's on her own side.